Education

Rochelle Baxter led 26 adult-ed graduates into the Lancaster High School auditorium Wednesday night to celebrate amid an audience of 300 who braved torrential rains, winds and even a tornado warning to attend the ceremony.

Dr. Jonathan Phipps is making the leap to a school district four times the size of Abbeville County’s, and with vastly different problems.
In rural Abbeville, his biggest challenge as superintendent was dealing with tight budgets and crumbling buildings from the 1950s. In Lancaster, his biggest job will be constructing new schools fast enough to keep pace with the Panhandle’s explosive growth.

The Lancaster County school board voted Tuesday night to hire Dr. Jonathan Phipps as the district’s next superintendent.
The vote was 6-1, with only board member Tyrom Faulkner voting against Phipps.
Phipps, 44, is superintendent of the Abbeville County School District, where he’s served since leaving Lancaster County’s schools in 2014. He began his career in Lancaster and worked here for 19 years.

The second Lancaster County School District superintendent finalist visited Lancaster on Thursday and had the opportunity to meet the community and district staff.
Dr. Carlotta Redish, 52, assistant superintendent for human resources at Spartanburg School District 7, said she is grateful for the chance to meet the county’s students, parents, community members and district staff.

A teacher at Southside Early Childhood Center has been placed on paid administrative leave after video evidence showed her dragging a 2-year-old across a classroom.
The tape showed Tiara Wade, 31, dragging the toddler by the arms “a short distance” two times on Monday afternoon, according to a Lancaster Police Department report.
Bryan Vaughn, Lancaster County School District safety and transportation director, said school personnel became aware of the incident later while reviewing video from the classroom.

Dr. Jonathan Phipps, a superintendent finalist for the Lancaster County School District, saw many familiar faces Monday as he met with the school board and educators and fielded questions from a citizens’ panel.
Phipps, who spent 19 years as a Lancaster County educator before becoming superintendent of Abbeville schools in 2014, was the first of three LCSD superintendent finalists to have an individual meet and greet with district staff and the community.

One of the three Lancaster County School District superintendent finalists filed a federal racial discrimination lawsuit against the Cherokee County School District in 2013 after not being promoted to superintendent there.
Dr. Carlotta Redish, who is black, filed the suit in January 2013, nearly eight months after filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging racial discrimination, retaliation and a hostile work environment, according to the lawsuit.

Lancaster’s Literacy Night this Thursday will give parents and students the chance to win prizes, play games and learn about how area schools are building reading and writing skills.
Nine Lancaster-area schools will have booths with exhibits and activities, including book giveaways, student work and a photo booth.
The event is from 6-7:30 p.m. at Lancaster High School, 625 Normandy Rd., Lancaster.

The Lancaster County school board has scheduled separate community visits for the three superintendent finalists, where the public will have a chance to meet and hear from the candidates.
Bobby Parker, board of trustees chairman, said the board wouldn’t want to hire a superintendent before the community had a chance to conduct its own in-person assessment.
“We picked these people because we thought they were the best choice,” Parker said. “We want our community to feel the same way, and I think they will.”